Too Doggone Big by Danny Batson

Monday

Feb 18, 2013 at 12:31 AMFeb 18, 2013 at 1:10 AM

I have found the hard way that the size of a pet matters a lot when you have small children.

Gary Thomas

I have found the hard way that the size of a pet matters a lot when you have small children. Here in Chillicothe we have had a Trading Post on KCHI (our local radio station) for as long as I can remember. One day I heard a young lady from Utica say that she had a Saint Bernard to give away to a good home. Now who wouldn't want a big lovable dog like that?

So, I was the first to call her. She told me the reason why she was giving her dog away. She said every morning the dog, Bronson, would follow her children in the morning to the school bus stop and stay there until they came home in the afternoon. For you see, Bronson loved her kids.

There was an elderly lady that lived on that corner where Bronson spent each school day; she would have call Bronson’s owner day after day to come and take him home. You see Bronson would do his number two in her yard and big dogs can leave a big mess! The owner simply could not budge him from the lady's yard. They could not stop him from his quest to follow those kids as far as he could and be there when they returned.

I took him to his new home and my kids were so happy to play with a dog they could ride! We lived where the school bus stopped on Leeper Street, so Bronson stayed home. The kids played with him every day and Bronson watched over them like a mother hen. Bronson was the kindest, most lovable, and happiest dog we ever owned; but boy could he slobber. If he ever kissed you, you needed a towel!

The first big problem we had with him was when we would call the kids inside to eat or go to bed Bronson would simply lay on my daughter so she couldn't get up. She would scream for help every time! Another big problem was his food intake; we not have a lot of extra cash back then. He was eating us out of house and home!

Finally, I decided we must give Bronson up after he ate through a 2” x 6” beam to get out of the garage! Of course he made my garage look like a cattle stall. I simply could not keep him tied or penned up.

I gave him to a farmer that had lots of pasture for him to roam about. We have never had large dogs since that time. It's not that I don't like them, but it's because of the extra care they need and maybe some fear of the damage they can do.